It is known, as for example from U.S. Pat. No 3,911,934, to dry and style hair by means of a brush connected via a conduit to a blowing and heating unit. In such an arrangement the blower and heater are jointly mounted in a separate stationary housing. It is also known to provide the blower and heater in a hand-held housing of the blow-dryer type, with a brush fitting on the nozzle of the dryer to allow styling of the hair while it is drying.
Such arrangements are invariably relatively bulky. It is necessary to provide a blower capable of moving a sufficient quantity of heater air, and it is also necessary to provide a relatively large heater capable of imparting to this air sufficient heat for the apparatus to dry and style hair effectively. Thus all such devices are bulky, relatively expensive because they incorporate considerable complex elements, and wasteful of energy.
Curling irons are also known which comprise an elongated metallic element provided internally with a conductive-type heater that serves to raise the surface temperature of the element sufficiently to set curls in hair wrapped around the end of the curling iron. Such devices operate at an elevated temperature and are invariably used on dry hair only, as the temperature of such a device would permanently damage wet hair wrapped around it. Furthermore such devices are only limitedly applicable for styling hair, serving only to set certain types of curls in dry hair. In addition, the construction of such devices makes them completely ineffective for drying hair.
Another hair-styling device is known which comprises a heater than raises the temperature of relatively massive rollers sufficiently that, when damp hair is wrapped around the hot rollers and these rollers are allowed to cool, curls can be set in the hair. Such a device is relatively slow-acting and thus can be used only for a complete hair-setting job, as the rollers cannot be heated up to very elevated temperatures since, on the one hand, they are to be used on wet hair and will remain in contact therewith for a considerable time and, on the other hand, they must be cool enough so that they can be picked up and emplaced by hand.